176 Mr A. L. Adams on the Mummied Bodies of the Ibis, 



preserved by a penalty of death to whomsoever killed one, 

 either by " accident or design/'* Its extirpation may have 

 been gradual, but the Eomans at first do not appear to have 

 been the cause, whatever may have taken place subse- 

 quently. The temple of Isis was honoured by its presence, 

 as the drawings in Pompeii and ancient writers fully prove. 

 It is likely, however, as the religion of the ancient race 

 began to suffer from the inroads of the early Christians, 

 that as the latter increased so did the Ibis decline ; and to 

 a bird which had received so much attention, neglect was 

 likely to have soon brought about a complete extinction of 

 the species. 



In comparing the past with the existent race, there are 

 two points to be considered : Jirst, the age of the mummied 

 birds. Sir Gardner Wilkinson writes me — " It is difficult to 

 ascertain the date of an ibis, or other bird mummy, because 

 they have seldom hieroglyphics with king's names." He 

 believes, however, that many at Thebes are of the time of 

 the nineteenth dynasty, i.e. b. c. 



In the second place, the modifications in the dimensions of 

 the skeleton are without doubt owing to its having been 

 domesticated and subjected to artificial influences, such as 

 affect our tame animals. 



There is a fact in favour of there having been only one 

 species. Among all the coloured drawings on the tombs of 

 Beni Hassan, Thebes, &c., one species is only represented, 

 and that is clearly the white Ibis. The perfection, nay I 

 may say beauty and brilliancy, of many of the paintings and 

 delineations of the Ibis, are unrivalled by anything of the 

 sort now-a-days. Moreover, it is to be expected that as its 

 figure had to be used in the hieroglyphic writings more 

 than that of any other bird, by dint of constant practice, 

 and in spite of the conventional style of the Egyptians, it is 

 likely they would, after so long practice, arrive at a high 

 point of excellence in tracing its outline. From the countries 

 now frequented by the Ibis, there is every reason to believe 

 that at least it did not migrate to Egypt or Nubia in 

 winter ; moreover, it is demonstrably a tropical species, and 



